Evener mechanism stop



Dec. 29, 1959 Filed May 12. 1955 N. B. HENRY EVENER MECHANISM STOP 3 Sheets$heet l INVENTOR. NELSON B. HENRY ATTORNEY Dec. 29, 1959 N. B. HENRY 2,918,704

EVENER MECHANISM STOP Filed May 12. 1955 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 FIGZ INVENTOR. NELSON B. HENRY sy g a i;

ATTORNEY Dec. 29, 1959 HENRY 2,918,704

EVENER MECHANISM STOP Filed May 12. 1955 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENITOR. NELSON B. HENRY ATTORNEY United States Patent EVENER MECHANISM STOP Nelson B. Henry, Decatur, Ga., assignor to Aldrich Machine Works, Greenwood, S.C., a corporation of South Carolina Application May 12, 1955, Serial No. 507,870

12 Claims. (Cl. 19--70) This invention relates to textile machines such as pickers or openers and like equipment for the forming of bats of fibrous material; more particularly, the invention is concerned with the evener mechanism of such machines by which a uniformity of bat thickness is main- 'tained.

In present day mechanisms of the type to which the present invention relates, the picker is provided with a feeler means engageable with the bat to sense the thickness thereof and with a speed control device operable under the influence of the feeler by which the supply of material is controlled in accordance with the thickness of the bat as sensed by the feeler thus to maintain a uniform character of bat. Such devices are commonly referred to as eveners or evener motions, and the importance of accurate operation thereof will be appreciated when it is understood that the bat formed by the picker is usually delivered for a subsequent carding operation, the uniformity of product from which is largely determined by the uniformity of the bat delivered thereto.

While such eveners have long been in use, and while their accuracy and fidelity does in the main provide substantial uniformity of bat thickness, a departure from such uniformity frequently occurs where the picker is stopped and thereafter restarted. Under such circumstances, the feeler mechanism, which is of necessity quite delicate, tends to rest upon the motionless bat, thus compressing the bat and thereby sensing a reduced thickness, and as a result the feed mechanism is set by the feeler at a higher rate of speed so as to compensate for the detection of the thinner bat.

It is therefore among the primary objects of the present invention to provide novel and improved means for insuring a uniformity of bat thickness, irrespective of periodic operations of the picker mechanism.

It is another object of the present invention to providemeans for maintaining the rate of material feed equal at the restarting of the picker mechanism to that which pertained prior to the cessation of operation.

As will be hereinafter discussed, the conventional mechanism by which the speed of the feed motion is controlled includes a rack bar movable in response to the'feeler mechanism and operable to effect changes in feeding speed. Although the motion of the feeler is quite-limited, such motion is vastly multiplied in its transmission to the rack bar, and hence there is a danger of 'los't motion and back-lash in the transmission of speed control from the feeler to the feed mechanism. In devices of conventional design, the danger of such inaccuracies of response is usually greater in the direction of increased feed speed than in the decrease thereof. In view of the foregoing, it is further among the objects of the invention to provide mechanism for securely retaining thefeed control mechanism against inadvertent deviati'ons of feed speed and in particular against inad'vertent speed increase at a temporary termination of picker operation.

Further and more specifically, it is an object of the invention to provide locking means for the rack bar of the evener of a picker, automatically operable to retain the feed mechanism at a given rate of feed speed after the termination of a picker operation.

A further object of the invention is to provide a rack bar securing means operable with the drive clutch of the picker so that upon termination of picker operation, the rack bar will be securely locked against an increase of feed which may be indicated by the feelers compression of the bat of material lying thereunder when the picker operation is terminated.

These and other objects, features and advantages of the invention will be understood from a consideration of the following specification taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which like characters designate corresponding parts throughout the several views, and wherein;

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of one preferred embodiment of the invention as applied to a conventional speed control mechanism for a picker.

Fig. 2 is a detailed perspective view of the rack bar clamp of the present invention and its operative connection with the clutch control shaft.

Fig. 3 is a top plan view of the rack bar clamp in en: gaging position.

Fig. 4 is a similar view showing the rack bar disengaged.

In general terms, that form of the invention here set forth by way of illustrating the general inventive concept may be briefly defined as including means operable by and with a clutch control mechanism for applying and relieving a locking engagement to the rack bar of the evener mechanism of a picker to the end that the speed setting determined by the position of the rack bar at the termination of picker operation will be prevented from a shift as a consequence of the termination of operation by the actuation of the clutch. In the present embodiment of the invention, the clutch is actuated by an oscillating clutch controlled shift to which there is applied a toggle arm, the outer end of which engages a pivotally mounted rack bar engaging lock. The construction and operation of the device is such that as the clutch shift is oscillated to disengage the clutch, the toggle arm is straightened toward its maximum length, thus imparting a rocking movement to the pivotal support of the rack bar lock, whereupon the lock will be urged toward the rack bar engaging the same and preclude a change in the speed control setting after the clutch is disengaged.

An important feature of the invention is that the direction of engaging pressure of the rack bar lock is in the direction of feed decrease movement of the rack bar, and hence the normal tendency of such devices to increase the speed feed after cessation of picker operation is effectively restrained.

In conventional picker mechanisms of the type to which the present invention relates, it is customary to provide a structure as generally set forth in Fig. 1, including a power shaft 10 for supplying the motivation for the material feeding mechanism, the shaft. 10 being pro: vided with an elongated cylindrical belt pulley 11 over which is trained the lower end of a feed drive belt 12. The upper end of the drive belt encircles an elongated cylindrical idler pulley 13, and is trained about a pair of companion and oppositely tapered pulleys 14 and 15. The pulley 14 is an idler pulley while the pulley 15' is mounted on a feed drive shaft 16, which through suitable conventional drive mechanism, not shown, and usually in the form of a worm gear, delivers the driving force to the feed mechanism. In this arrangement, it will be understood that the opposite taperings of the pulleys 14 and 15 insure uniform tension on the drive belt 12 as it is shifted longitudinally of the pulleys over which it is trained. It will further be seen that as the belt is shifted toward the larger diameter of the tapered driven pulley 15, the speed of the shaft 16 Will be diminished, and that movement of the belt during its rotation towards the smaller end of the tapered pulley 15 will increase the speed of rotation of the shaft 16.

The conventional picker mechanism also includes a thickness sensing and feeler mechanism, details of which form no part of the present invention, and are fragmentarily indicated in Fig. 1 merely by the feeler arm 20. Since the structure and operation of such mechanisms are many and various, as Well as common knowledge and understanding by those skilled in the art, it will here sufiice merely to indicate that the feeler mechanism is such as to move the outer end of the arm 26 downwardly as the sensed thickness of the bat decreases and upwardly as the sensed thickness increases. To the end of the arm 20 there is afiixed a feeler responsive rod 21, suitably engaged by crank mechanism as at 22 to a horizontal quadrant rack shaft 23. On the shaft 23 there is afiixed an arm or quadrant '24 from which is suspended by chain 25 a weight 26 by which pressure is applied for the sensing by the mechanism associated with the feeler 20, and by which the shaft 23 is biased towards counter-clockwise rotation. At the opposite end of the shaft 23, there is mounted a quadrant gear 27 supported by spiders 28, from a hub 29, fixed to the shaft 23, :1 depending arm 30 from the hub 29 carries its balancing weight 31 which assists in the elimination of back-lash, and which seeks to maintain a normal intermediate position of feed control as determined by the original setting of the feeler arm.

This conventional structure also includes a rack bar 40 rectilinearly movable through suitable guides such as indicated at '41, and includes rack teeth 42 meshing with the teeth 43 of the rack quadrant 27 as indicted at 44. The rack bar 40 is provided With a belt receiving and engaging portion. This arrangement is such that as the feeler is reciprocated, the shaft 23 is rotated and with it the quadrant 27, whereby the rack bar is reciprocated to shift the belt 12 along its pulleys so as to alter the speed of rotation of the shaft 16 in faithful response to the slightest motion of the feeler arm 20.

The main clutch for controlling the entire operation of the picker is indicated by the numeral 50, and is ac tuated by a clutch arm 51 mounted on an oscillating clutch shaft 52, controlled through suitable manual and/or automatic control means which form no part of the invention, and are but fragmentarily illustrated by the means 53 and 54. It will be understood that as the shaft 52 is oscillated, the arm 51 will swing toward and away from the clutch member 50 to engage and disengage the clutch for controlling the drive for the picker, outward movement of the end of the arm 51 from the clutch 50 being such as to disengage the clutch and terminate the operation of the device while opposite and inward movement of such arm will engage the clutch to re-establish driving connection.

The mechanism thus far described and illustrated is purely conventional, and may be found illustrated and described in numerous prior patents, catalogs and publications. Those skilled in this art are fully familiar with such structures and their operation. Therefore, in considering the above, it will be understood that this mechanism is presented merely by way of illustration and that the present inventive concept as hereinafter illustrated, described and claimed is equally applicable to numerous and varied equivalent mechanisms, particularly those wherein a speed control means is actuated by a reciprocating member under the control of a feeler bar.

The mechanism of the present invention comprises a toggle arm formed with a hub 60 surrounding and secured t the clutch shaft 52 for rotation therewith. At

the opposite and outer end of the primary body 61 of the toggle arm, there is pivotally mounted by means of bolt 62, a pair of toggle extension pieces 63, the inner ends of which are adapted to abut and be limited in their pivotal movement by a projecting stop piece 64. The opposite outer end of the extension piece 63 has mounted therebetween a terminal block '65 pivotally secured between the piece 63 by the bolt 66. Outwardly from the block 65 there extends a threaded bolt '67 adapted to be received through an apertured boss 68 formed on an arm 69 of a bell crank 70.

The bell crank 70 is pivotally mounted as at 71 to a suitable adjacent frame portion 72 of the picker. Directly above the mounting of the rack bar 40, diametrically above the mounting of the bell crank, an arm 73 is formed to which is pivotally mounted, as at 74, the pressure applying rack bar engaging lock member 75. The member 75 extends outwardly below the plane ofcrank lever 70, and is thus disposed in the plane of the rack bar 40 and closely adjacent the outer side face thereof.

In the operation of the device, it will be seen that with the toggle broken as indicated in Fig. 4, the rack 'bar block 75 is held outwardly in spaced relation to the rack bar 40 through the clockwise rotation of the bell crank 70 on its pivot 71, this being the position of parts when the clutch is engaged by the inward movement of the clutch arm 51 as effected for counter-clockwise rotation of the clutch shaft 52 as seen in Figs. 3 and 4. When the clutch shaft 52 is rotated in clockwise direction to move the clutch arm 51 outwardly to disengage the clutch 50, the primary toggle arm 61 swings outwardly with the shaft 52, and such movement will be seen to straighten the bar 63 for axial alignment with the primary toggle arm to the position shown in Fig. 3. Such movementwill increase the effective length of the toggle, thus rocking the bell crank 70 on its pivot 71 in counter-clockwise direction, best shown in Figs. 3 and 4, whereby the lock block 75 will be instantly and similarly applied to the side of the rack bar 40 to secure the same against motion while the picker mechanism is at rest.

In considering the above operation of the lock block in response to engagement and disengagement of the clutch, it will be seen that the block will be moved in a slightly arcuate path as it approaches the rack bar 40, and in such movement there will be a tendency towards urging the rack bar to the right. Since such direction of movement is that which is applied to the rack bar for decreasing the rate of material supplied to the picker, it will be seen that such motion of the lock block tends to offset or counteract any tendency of the bar to creep in the direction of increasing material feed. While such movements are but slight, and will not in most instances actually change the belt setting and the consequent rate of material feed, it is considered an important feature of the invention in that a safety factor is thus provided against any tendency towards retrograde action of the rack bar when picker motion is terminated. These considerations will be more clearly understood when it is recognized that there is a very substantial multiplication of movement between the delicate sensing operations by the feeler arm 20 and the very substantial motions transmitted in response thereto to the rack bar.

From the foregoing, it will be seen that the present invention provides an automatic and effective locking and securing of the speed control of a picker when the clutch is disengaged to terminate the picker operations. It will be further seen that the invention may be readily applied to conventional pickers now on the market and in use, and that the structure is simple, rugged, effective and efficient. While the invention is here shown in one of its specific structural embodiments, and is designed for adaptation to one particular speed control mechanism of a picker, it will be readily understood that the inventive concept may take the form of various structural arrangements. Therefore, numerous changes, modifications and the full use of equivalents may be resorted to without departure from the spirit or scope of my invention as outlined in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In a drive mechanism, the combination with a clutch and shifting means therefor together with a shittable belt shifting member, of a toggle movable with said clutch shifting means, a lock engageable with said movable belt shifting member and means actuated by said tog lo and engaging said lock for locking said speed control member against change of adjustment when said clutch shifting means is in a predetermined position, said lock having a component of motion upon approaching said belt shifting member in the direction of the speed reducing direction of motion of said member.

3. In a textile picker, a control clutch for starting and stopping the picker, control member for said clutch, speed control mechanism for controlling the speed of operation of said picker, and means interconnecting said clutch control member and speed control mechanism for locking said speed control mechanism against change of adjustment when said clutch is disengaged and the picker is idle.

4. In a textile picker, a control clutch for starting and stopping said picker, control member for said clutch, speed control mechanism for controlling the speed of operation of said picker, feeler mechanism for adjusting said speed control mechanism in relation to the thickness of a bat material in said picker, and means interconnecting said clutch control member and speed control mechanism for locking said speed control mechanism against change of adjustment by said feeler mechanism when said clutch is disengaged and the picker is idle.

5. In a textile picker, a control clutch for starting and stopping said picker, control member for said clutch,

speed control mechanism for controlling the speed of operation of said picker, feeler mechanism for adjusting said speed control mechanism in relation to the thickness of a bat of material in said picker, and means interconnecting said clutch control member and speed control mechanism for locking said speed control mechanism against change of adjustment by said feeler mechanism when said clutch is disengaged and the picker is idle, said means including a toggle arm and a locking block.

6. In a textile picker, a control clutch for starting and stopping said picker, an oscillating control member for said clutch, speed control mechanism including a rack bar for controlling the speed of operation of said picker, feeler mechanism for adjusting said speed control mechanism in relation to the thickness of a hat of material in said picker, and means interconnecting said clutch control member and speed control mechanism for locking said speed control mechanism against change of adjustment by said feeler mechanism when said clutch is disengaged and the picker is idle, said means including a toggle arm secured to said oscillating member and a locking block mounted on said toggle and engageable with said rack bar.

7. in a textile picker, a control clutch for starting and stopping said picker, an oscillating control member for said clutch, speed control mechanism including a rack bar for controlling the speed of operation of said picker, feeler mechanism for adjusting said speed control mechanism in relation to the thickness of a hat of material in said picker, and means interconnecting said clutch control member and speed control mechanism for lockinc said speed control mechanism against change of adjustment by said feeler mechanism when said clutch is disengaged and the picker is idle, said means including a toggle arm secured to said oscillating member and a locking block mounted on said toggle and engageable with said rack bar, the movement of said toggle arm toward said rack bar providing an increment of motion of said block in the direction of feed diminishment motion of said rack bar.

8. The combination with a conical pulley shiftable belt speed control mechanism and a rack bar for shifting the belt thereof, of a rack bar lock including a lock block engageable with said bar and means for moving said block toward and from said bar in an arcuate path of travel including a pivotally mounted bell crank supporting said block and a toggle arm engaging said bell crank.

9. in a textile picker, a power clutch, a control member for said clutch, a feeler mechanism, means for pressing said feeler against a hat of material in said picker to sense the thickness thereof, material feed speed control means controlled by said feeler, and means controlled by said clutch control member for locking said feed speed control means against control by said feeler.

10. In a textile picker, a power clutch, a control memher for said clutch, a feeler mechanism, means for pressing said feeler against a bat of material in said picker to sense the thickness thereof, material feed speed control means controlled by said feeler, and means controlled by said clutch control member for locking said feed speed control means against control by said feeler when said control member is actuated to disengage said power clutch.

11. The mechanism set forth in claim 10 in Which the feed speed control means includes a belt and cone pulley mechanism and a rack bar for shifting the belt and wherein the loclr device is engageable with said rack bar.

12. The mechanism as set forth in claim 11 in which the motion of the lock includes a component in the direction of feed decrease.

References Cited in the tile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 679,076 Johnston July 23, 1901 833,155 Britten Oct. 16, 1906 1,595,850 Abbott et al. Aug. 10, 1926 2,368,139 Hubert et al. Ian. 30, 1945 FOREIGN PATENTS 450,044 France Jan. 8, 1913 

